January 19, 2007
Apparently the new "crushing of dissent" being perpetrated by the Bush administration is that there's a new law in town - no jokes about the President or Iraq.
It seems the annual White House Correspondence Association dinner is about to roll around again, and the comedy entertainment (this time Rich Little) this year has been put on notice by the Association that they're drawing the line at Iraq and "knocking" the President.
Lots of bloggers on the left side of the sphere are going ballistic over this decision, as they're still peeing themselves watching Stephen Colbert's performance from last year. Yet the same man who chose Colbert last year made the choice for the entertainment this year.
Sound like a reactionary pick after Colbert's edginess? Sort of the Beltway version of booking ex-Beatle Paul McCartney to play the Super Bowl halftime show the year after Janet Jackson flashed the breast that inspired a thousand letter-writing campaigns?And on top of that, the charge that this is a sign that the press doesn't have the balls to challenge and offend the administration seems pretty ridiculous. No, it's the public the press doesn't have the balls to stand up to.Decidedly not, said Correspondents Association President Steve Scully, who booked both Colbert and Little.
"I thought Colbert was great. I loved him," Scully said, adding that he didn't field any complaints from the White House, Bush included, about Colbert's performance. "Those who didn't like him, didn't get his brand of humor because they don't see his show."
Scully's mantra for booking the annual event: "Somebody who singes, but doesn't burn. Somebody who is funny and will make fun of the White House, but won't cross the line."
Radio DJ Don Imus crossed the line 13 years ago when he mocked President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, said Scully, a senior executive producer at C-SPAN.
"You have 3,000 people in the room, and what my approach on this was, you want to have somebody who can cut across generational lines and who is funny," Scully said. "And Rich Little is funny."
Little said organizers of the event made it clear they don't want a repeat of last year's controversial appearance by Stephen Colbert, whose searing satire of President Bush and the White House press corps fell flat and apparently touched too many nerves.Letters. From who? George Bush? Rove? We seriously doubt it."They got a lot of letters," Little said Tuesday.
The left seems obsessed with making Bush pay for "his war" in Iraq, and as the Democrats in office have revealed that they're not going to throw their majority away for a chance at an impeachment hearing, it seems that this and every other public event is supposed to be some kind of opportunity to put the President on trial. The Association appears to have decided that this is not their objective for the evening.
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